Gap filling for thermoplastic welds

ABSTRACT

Thermoplastic welding is an emerging technology targeted at significantly reducing the cast of manufacture of aerospace structure by eliminating fasteners and the touch labor associated with fasteners to prepare, install, and inspect the assemblies. Thermoplastic welds, however, suffer from significant residual tensile strain caused by differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the carbon fiber reinforced composite laminates and the unreinforced weld. Holding fiber reinforcement to the weld using a structural susceptor which is a laminate of alternating layers of thermoplastic resin and fiber reinforcement sandwiching a conventional metal susceptor alleviates this strain. The structural susceptor can be peeled in selected locations to fill the gap between the laminates, eliminating costly profilometry of the faying surfaces and the associated problem of resin depletion where machining occurred to match the faying surfaces. The peeled susceptor is complementary in contour to the gap it will fill.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is related to the following, copending,commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,511 Tailored Susceptors forInduction Thermoplastic Welding, U.S. Pat No. 5,507,496 SelvagedSusceptor for Thermoplastic Welding by Induction Heating, and

U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,684 Multipass Induction Heating for ThermoplasticWelding, all of which we incorporate by reference.

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to gap filling thermoplastic welds toaccommodate surface mismatches along the bondline.

2. Background Art

The exponential decay of the strength of magnetic fields dictates that,in induction welding processes, the structure susceptible to inductionheating that is closest to the induction coil will be the hottest, sinceit experiences the strongest field. Therefore, it is difficult to obtainadequate heating at the bond line between two graphite or carbon fiberreinforced resin matrix composites relying on the susceptibility of thefibers alone as the source of heating in the assembly. For the innerplies to be hot enough to melt the resin, the outer plies closer to theinduction coil and in the stronger magnetic field are too hot. Thematrix resin in the entire piece of composite melts. The overheatingresults in porosity in the product, delamination, and, in some case,destruction or denaturing of the resin. To avoid overheating of theouter plies and to insure adequate heating of the inner plies, asusceptor of significantly higher conductivity than the fibers is usedto peak the heating selectively at the bond fine of the plies whenheating from one side. An electromagnetic induction coil on one side ofthe assembly heats a susceptor to melt and cure a thermoplastic resin(also sometimes referred to as an adhesive) to bond the elements of theassembly together. Often the current density in the susceptor is higherat the edges of the susceptor than in the center because of thenonlinearity of the coil. This problem typically occurs when using a cupcore induction coil like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037 andcan result in overheating the edges of the assembly or underheating thecenter, either condition leading to inferior welds because of nonuniformcuring. It is necessary to have an open or mesh pattern in the susceptorto allow the resin to bond between the composite elements of theassembly when the resin heats and melts.

Three major joining technologies exist for aerospace compositestructure: mechanical fastening; adhesive bonding; and welding. Bothmechanical fastening and adhesive bonding are costly, time consumingassembly steps that introduce excess cost even if the parts that areassembled are fabricated from components produced by an emerging, costefficient process. Mechanical fastening requires expensive holelocating, drilling, shimming, and fastener installation, while adhesivebonding requires complicated surface pretreatments.

In contrast, thermoplastic welding, which eliminates fasteners, featuresthe ability to join thermoplastic composite components at high speedswith minimum touch labor and little, if any, pretreatments. In ourexperience, the welding interlayer, called a susceptor, also cansimultaneously take the place of shims required in mechanical fastening.As such, composite welding holds promise to be an affordable joiningprocess. For "welding" thermoplastic and thermoset composite partstogether, the resin that the susceptor melts functions as a hot meltadhesive. If fully realized, the thermoplastic-thermoset bonding willfurther reduce the cost of composite assembly.

There is a large stake in developing a successful induction weldingprocess. Its advantages versus traditional composite joining methodsare:

reduced parts count versus fasteners

minimal surface preparation, in most cases a simple solvent wipe toremove surface contaminants

indefinite shelf life at room temperature

short process cycle time, typically measured in minutes

enhanced joint performance, especially hot/wet and fatigue

permits rapid field repair of composites or other structures.

There is little or no loss of bond strength after prolonged exposure toenvironmental influences.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,450 describes a method to spot weld graphite fiberreinforced PEEK composites using a pair of electrodes After rougheningthe surfaces of the prefabricated PEEK composites in the region of thebond, Burke placed a PEEK adhesive ply along the bond line, applied apressure of about 50-100 psi through the electrodes, and heated theembedded graphite fibers by applying a voltage in the range of 20-40volts at 30-40 amps for approximately 5-10 seconds with the electrodes.Access to both sides of the assembly is required in this process whichlimits its application.

Prior art disclosing thermoplastic welding with induction heating isillustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,966,402 and 4,120,712. In these patents,the metallic susceptors used are of a conventional type having a regularpattern of openings of traditional manufacture. Achieving a uniform,controllable temperature in the bondline, which is crucial to preparinga thermoplastic weld of adequate integrity to permit use of welding inaerospace primary structure, is difficult with those conventionalsusceptors, as we discussed and illustrated in our copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/068,520, now abandoned.

Thermoplastic welding is a process for forming a fusion bond between twofaying thermoplastic faces of two parts. A fusion bond is created whenthe thermoplastic on the surface of the two parts is heated to themelting or softening point and the two surfaces are brought intocontact, so that the molten thermoplastic mixes, and the surfaces areheld in contact while the thermoplastic cools below the softeningtemperature.

Simple as the thermoplastic welding process sounds, and easy as it is toperform in the laboratory on small pieces, it becomes difficult toperform reliably and repeatably in a real factory on full-scale pans tobuild a large structure such as an airplane wing box. The difficulty isin getting the proper amount of heat to the bondline without overheatingthe entire structure, and also in achieving intimate contact of thefaying surfaces of the two parts at the bondline during heating andcooling despite the normal imperfections in the flatness of compositepans, thermal expansion of the thermoplastic during heating to thesoftening or melting temperature, flow of the thermoplastic out of thebondline under pressure, and then contraction of the thermoplastic inthe bondline during cooling.

One technique for getting heat to the bondline in a thermoplasticassembly to be welded together is to include a conductive layer orarticle, known as a "susceptor", between the two surfaces to be welded,and to heat the susceptor by resistive heating so that the susceptorfunctions as a bondline heat source to melt or soften the thermoplasticat the bondline for fusion of the faying surfaces of the compositecomponents to be joined. The electric current for heating the susceptorcan be in the form of eddy currents generated inductively, as taught forexample by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,261 and 4,978,825, or it can beconducted directly to the susceptor through tabs or the like as shown inU.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037.

In U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/286,360 and 08/068,520, wedescribed a tailored susceptor for approaching the desired temperatureuniformity. This susceptor relied upon carefully controlling thegeometry of openings in the susceptor (both their orientation and theirspacing) to distribute the heat evenly. For example, we suggested usinga regular array of anisotropic, diamond shaped openings with a ratio ofthe length (L) to the width (W) greater than 1 to provide a superiorweld over that achieved using a susceptor having a similar array, butone where the L/W ratio was one. By changing the length to width ratio(the aspect ratio) of the diamond-shaped openings in the susceptor, weachieved a large difference in the longitudinal and transverseconductivity in the susceptor, and, thereby, tailored the currentdensity within the susceptor. A tailored susceptor having openings witha length (L) to width (W) ratio of 2:1 has a longitudinal conductivityabout four times the transverse conductivity. In addition to tailoringthe shape of the openings to tailor the susceptor, we altered thecurrent density in regions near the edges by increasing the foil density(i.e., the absolute amount of metal). Increasing the foil density alongthe edge of the susceptor increases the conductivity along the edge andreduces the current density and the edge heating. We increased foildensity by folding the susceptor to form edge strips of double thicknessor by compressing openings near the edge of an otherwise uniformsusceptor. We found these susceptors difficult to reproduce reliably.Also, their use forced careful placement and alignment to achieve thedesired effect.

The tailored susceptor for our earlier application was designed to usewith the cup core of U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037. With this coil, themagnetic field is strongest near the edges because the central polecreates a null at the center. Therefore, the susceptor is designed tocounter the higher field at the edges by accommodating the inducedcurrent near the edges. The high longitudinal conductivity encouragesinduced currents to flow longitudinally.

Our selvaged susceptor for thermoplastic welding which is described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,508,496 controls the current density pattern during eddycurrent heating by an induction coil to provide substantially uniformheating to a composite assembly and to insure the strength and integrityof the weld in the completed part. This susceptor is particularlydesirable for welding ribs between prior welded spars using anasymmetric induction coil, because, with that coil, it provides acontrollable area of intense, uniform heating, a trailing region withessentially no heating, and a leading region with minor preheating.

The power (P) or power density which the susceptor dissipates as heatfollows the well-known equation for power loss in a resistor: P=(J²)(R)wherein J is the eddy current (or its density) and R is the impedance(i.e., resistance) of any segment of the eddy path. The heating achieveddirectly corresponds to the power (or power density).

We achieve better performance (i.e., more uniform heating) in ribwelding by using a selvaged susceptor having edge strips withoutopenings. The resulting susceptor, then, has a center portion with aregular pattern of opening and solid foil edges, which we refer to asselvage edge strips. We embed the susceptor in a thermoplastic resin tomake a susceptor/resin tape that is easy to handle and to use inperforming the composite pieces prior to welding. Also, we havediscovered that, with a selvaged susceptor, the impedance of the centralportion should be anisotropic with a lower transverse impedance than thelongitudinal impedance. Here, the L/W ratio of diamond shaped openingsshould be less than or equal to one. That is, unlike our tailoredsusceptor of U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,511, L for the selvaged susceptorshould be less than W. With this new selvaged susceptor in the regionimmediately under the asymmetric induction work coil described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,444,220, we encourage the current to flow across thesusceptor to the edges where the current density is lowest and theconductivity, highest.

Generally, we form the selvaged susceptor somewhat wider than normal sothat the selvage edge strips are not in the bondline. We remove theselvage edge strips after forming the weld, leaving only a perforatedsusceptor foil in the weld. This foil has a relatively high open areafraction.

Significant effort has been expended in developing inductor andsusceptor systems to optimize the heating of the bondline in thethermoplastic assemblies to be welded. Induction coil structures andtailored susceptors have now been developed that provide adequatecontrol and uniformity of heating of the bondline, but a big hurdleremaining to perfecting the process to the point of practical utilityfor producing large scale aerospace-quality structures in a productionenvironment is the aspect of the process dealing with the control of thesurface contact of the faying surfaces of the two pans to be weldedtogether, and the timing, intensity, and schedule of heat application sothe material at the faying surfaces is brought to and maintained withinthe proper temperature range for the requisite amount of time for anadequate bond to form, and is maintained in intimate contact while themelted or softened material hardens in its bonded condition.

Large scale parts such as wing spars and ribs, and the wing skins thatare bonded to the spars and ribs, are typically on the order of 20-30feet long at present, and potentially can be hundreds of feet in lengthwhen the process is perfected for commercial transport aircraft. Partsof this magnitude are very difficult to produce with perfect flatness.Instead, the typical pan will have various combinations of surfacedeviations from perfect flatness, including large scale waviness in thedirection of the major length dimension, twist about the longitudinalaxis, dishing or sagging of "I" beam flanges, and small scale surfacedefects such as asperities and depressions. These irregularitiesinterfere with full surface area contact between the faying surfaces ofthe two parts and actually result in surface contact only at a few "highpoints" across the intended bondline. Additional surface contact can beachieved by applying pressure to the pans to force the faying surfacesinto contact, but full intimate contact is difficult or impossible toachieve in this way. Applying heat to the interface by electricallyheating the susceptor in connection with pressure on the parts tends toflatten the irregularities further, but the time needed to achieve fullintimate contact with the use of heat and pressure is excessive, canresult in deformation of the top part, and tends to raise the overalltemperature of the "I" beam flanges to the softening point, so theybegin to yield or sag under the application of the pressure needed toachieve a good bond.

Our multipass thermoplastic welding process described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 5,486,684 enables a moving coil welding process toproduce continuous or nearly continuous fusion bonds over the full areaof the bondline to yield very high strength welds reliably, repeatablyand with consistent quality. This process produces improved low cost,high strength composite assemblies of large scale parts, fusion bondedtogether with consistent quality, and uses a schedule of heatapplication that maintains the overall temperature of the structurewithin the limit in which it retains its high strength, so it requiresno internal tooling to support the structure against sagging whichotherwise could occur above the high strength temperature limit. Theprocess also produces nearly complete bondline area fusion on standardproduction composite material parts having the usual surfaceimperfections and deviations from perfect flatness, while eliminatingfasteners and the expense of drilling holes, inspecting the holes andthe fasteners, inspecting the fasteners after installation, sealingbetween the parts and around the fastener and the holes; reducingmismatch of materials; and eliminating arcing from the fasteners.

In the process, an induction heating work coil is passed multiple timesover a bondline while applying pressure in the region of the coil to thecomponents to be welded, and maintaining the pressure until the resinhardens. The resin at the bondline is heated to the softening or meltingtemperature with each pass of the induction work coil and pressure isexerted to flow the softened/melted resin in the bondline and reduce thethickness of the bondline while improving the intimacy of the fayingsurface contact with each pass to militate for complete continuity ofbond. The total time at the softened or melted condition of thethermoplastic in the faying surfaces is sufficient to attain deep interdiffusion of the polymer chains in the materials of the two fayingsurfaces throughout the entire length and area of the bondline, therebyproducing a bondline of improved strength and integrity in the completedpart, but the total time of the faying surfaces at softened temperatureis in separate time segments which allows time for the heat in theinterface to dissipate without raising the temperature of the entirestructure to the degree at which it loses its strength and begins tosag, so the desired shape and size of the final assembly is maintained.

A structural susceptor allows the inclusion of fiber reinforcementwithin the weld resin to alleviate residual tensile strain otherwisepresent in an unreinforced weld. The susceptor includes alternatinglayers of thin film thermoplastic resin sheets and fiber reinforcement(usually woven fiberglass fiber) sandwiching the conventional metalsusceptor that is embedded in the resin. Conventional susceptors aredescribed U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,571 and 5,508,496. While the number oftotal plies in this structural susceptor is usually not critical, weprefer to use at least two plies of fiber reinforcement on each side ofthe susceptor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for gap filling between thewelded composite laminates which tailors the thickness (number of plies)in the structural susceptor to fill the gaps, thereby eliminating costlyprofilometry of the faying surfaces and the inherent associated problemof resin depletion at the faying surfaces caused by machining thesurfaces to have complementary contours. Standard manufacturingtolerances produce gaps as large as 0.120 inch, which is too wide tocreate a quality weld using conventional susceptors.

We can easily tailor the thickness of the structural susceptor to matchthe measured gap by scoring through the appropriate number of plies ofresin and fiber reinforcement and peeling them off. In doing so, a resinside layer will be on both faying surfaces and this layer should insurebetter performance from the weld.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thermoplastic welding apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded sectional view of a typical structuralsusceptor of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative perspective view of a structural susceptorprofiled for filling a gap.

FIG. 4 is a detail view of a typical susceptor mesh.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a typical selvaged susceptor which can be usedas the center of a structural susceptor by loosely bonding plies ofreinforcing fiber and thermoplastic resin on the top and bottomsurfaces.

FIG. 6 shows a typical weld using the structural susceptor and gapfilling method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

First, we will describe a typical thermoplastic welding operation andthen will describe the structural susceptor to alleviate residualtensile strain (and resulting cracking) in the weld and the method forgap filling by tailoring the structural susceptor to complement theprofile of the laid up laminates.

For purposes of this description, "laminates" means a fiber-reinforcedorganic resin matrix composite having a plurality of plies of prepreg orits equivalent consolidated together and cured, as appropriate. Thelaminates are prefabricated by any appropriate means including automaticor hand type or tow fiber placement with autoclave consolidation andcure, resin transfer molding (RTM), or the like. Generally, the organicmatrix resin is a thermoplastic, especially PEEK, ULTEM, or K3. In thewelding operation, resin in the laminates as well as resin in thesusceptor melts, intermixes, and fuses to form the weld. Nevertheless,the laminate might also be a thermoset in which case the welding processactually forms a hot melt adhesive bond rather than a weld. We preferwelding, but recognize the analogous process of adhesive bonding ofthermosets.

In a thermoplastic laminate, the reinforcing fiber typically is carbonfiber in continuous or chopped form, and generally as tow or wovenfabric. While other fibers can be used, modem aerospace requirementsmost often dictate carbon fibers for their strength and durability, andwe prefer them. In thermosets, especially epoxy, the fibers might begraphite.

1. The Welding Operation

Turning now to FIG. 1 a thermoplastic welding head 10 is supported ontooling headers 12 over thermoplastic composite parts to be fusionbonded together. The parts, in this example, include a thermoplasticspar 14 and a thermoplastic wing skin 16, only a small section of whichis shown in FIG. 1. The spar 14 is in the form of an "I" beam having atop cap 18, a bottom cap 20, and a connecting web 22. The spar 14extends lengthwise of the wing of the airplane for which the parts arebeing assembled, and the wing skin is bonded over the full length andsurface area of the spar cap 18 with sufficient strength to resist thetensile and peeling forces the wing will experience in flight.

A conductive susceptor (generally a copper mesh having tailoredlongitudinal and transverse impedance to achieve uniform heating)encapsulated in a thermoplastic resin is inserted between the spar cap18 and the wing skin 16. Typically the resin is the same or a slightlylower melting temperature formulation of the same thermoplastic resin ofthe spar cap 18 and the lower faying surface of the wing skin 16.

The welding head 10 can be any moving coil apparatus that is capable ofapplying pressure during induction heating of the bondline to promotefusion and after heating for a period sufficient for the resin to cooland harden in its bonded condition. One suitable welding head isdisclosed in an application by Karl Hansen entitled "Conformal Skate forInduction Welding," U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,054, which we also incorporateby reference. A preferred welding apparatus includes an induction coilfor inducing eddy currents in the susceptor. The eddy currents heat thesusceptor by electrical resistance heating and soften or melt thethermoplastic resin in the faying surfaces of the parts so it flowsinter diffuses, and fuses together with softened resin of the wing skinand spar cap upon cooling. Two suitable induction coils are describedU.S. Pat. No. 5,444,220 by Hansen and Weisberg entitled "Asymmetric WorkCoil for Induction Welding," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037, which weincorporate by reference. The coil shown in the '037 patent provideszero eddy current at the center with the current density increasingtoward the edges. Use of a tailored susceptor is desirable tocounterbalance the nonuniform eddy current density that the coilproduces from centerline to edge to achieve uniform heating, and such asusceptor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,511 entitled "TailoredSusceptors for Induction Thermoplastic Welding," by Karl A. Hansen andC. David Lunden. A selvaged susceptor designed especially for use withthe asymmetric induction coil is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,496 byHansen and Weisberg.

The induction work coil is mounted in the welding head in the center ofa lower frame which is pinned to a link connecting the lower frame to anupper frame. The upper frame is pulled by a motive apparatus including astepper motor driving a drive sprocket and a chain loop through areduction gear unit. A pair of camroll bearings projects from both sidesof the lower frame into cam grooves milled into the inside surfaces ofthe headers to guide and support the lower frame. A similar set ofcamroll bearings projects outward from the upper frame into a straightcam groove to guide the upper frame as it is pulled by the chain loopfrom one end of the wing skin to the other.

The process of welding the wing skin to the spar cap begin withassembling the parts together with the susceptor interposed between thefaying surfaces of the parts. In the case of a wing box, this involvesattaching the susceptor to the outer surfaces of the spar caps and thensandwiching the spars between the upper and lower wing skins. The partsare held in position and squeezed together by a force exerted by a pairof air bearing pads to which air under pressure is delivered by way ofair lines and distributed to the air bearing pressure pads by separateair lines. The air to the pads reduces the frictional drag on thepressure pads on the top surface of the wing skin and helps to cool thepans after the coil has passed. The induction work coil is pulled alongthe intended bondline over the outer surface of the two wing skins inalignment with the susceptors while producing an alternating magneticfield which projects thorough the wing skins and around the susceptor,generating eddy currents in the susceptor. The eddy currents induced bythe magnetic filed are of sufficient amperage to heat the susceptor,raising the temperature of the thermoplastic material in the fayingsurfaces to its softening or melting temperature. After the first passof the welding head, the process is repeated three or more times,increasing the power to the coil after the second pass and, if desired,increasing the pressure exerted by air cylinders on the pressure pads.

The bond strength improves with repetitions of the welding passes of thewelding head over the same bondline. This phenomenon was discoveredfortuitously and was investigated in detail after it was identified. Wefound that the effect of multiple passes of the induction coil serves tocreate the optimal conditions for achieving a fusion bond with thedesired characteristics of continuity over the entire bondline, andsubstantial molecular inter diffusion of the materials in the layingsurfaces to produce a bondline of high pull-off strength with thecomplete or nearly complete absence of voids.

The mechanisms for achieving a fusion bond include intimate contact and"healing." Intimate contact of the two faying surfaces is a function offorce exerted on the parts to squeeze them together, andtemperature-dependent viscosity. The force exerted on the parts isdistributed over a certain surface area as interfacial pressure tendingto bring the faying surfaces together, and the viscosity of the surfacematerial is manifested by the tendency of high spots in the surface toyield of flow so that low spots in the two surfaces can come together."Healing" is partly a process in which molten or soften materials flowtogether and blend where they come into contact, and partly a process ofmolecular penetration of the polymer chains in the material of onesurface into the molecular matrix of the material in the other fayingsurface. The average penetration distance of the polymer chains, withoutthe beneficial mixing effect achieved by flowing the materials in thefaying surfaces, increases as a quarter power of time.

Objective and easily made observations of a bondline that are indicativeof the quality of the bond are reduction in bondline thickness, improvedratio of bonded unbonded surface area in the bondline (or expressedconversely, a reduction of the amount of unbonded surface area in thebondline), and improved pass-through of a bonding resin through theinterstices of the susceptor. These factors are easily measured byexamining the welded part and then pull testing short sections todestruction, which also provides direct bond strength data.

Irregularities such as hollows, depressions and asperites in the fayingsurfaces of the parts, and other deviations from perfect flatness caninterfere with and prevent continuous intimate contact along the fullsurfaces of the parts where bonding is intended. These deviations fromperfect flatness include small scale surface features such as asperites,depressions or hollows, scratches and bumps, and also large scalefeatures such as waviness in the direction of the major lengthdimension, twist about the longitudinal axis, dishing or sagging of "I"beam flanges, and warping such as humping or bowing in the longitudinaldirection. The structural susceptor is particularly suited for dealingwith these problems.

2The Structural Susceptor

The structural susceptor includes a conventional susceptor 100 and aplurality of loosely bonded plies of thermoplastic resin 102 and fiberreinforcement 104 sandwiching the conventional susceptor. Either thetailored susceptor of U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,511 or the selvaged susceptorof U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,496 can be used as well as other susceptors knownin the art.

The susceptor usually is fabricated from a copper foil having athickness of from 0.003-0.010 in (0.075-0.25 mm). Any material havinggood electrical conductivity and high magnetic permeability (so that itis a good susceptor) may be used. Our susceptor has a pattern ofopenings (usually diamonds) 140 (FIG. 4) made by conventional methodssuch as etching, stamping, or expansion. The foil can also be nickel,nickel-coated copper, cobalt/iron alloys, iron-nickel alloys, or anothersuitable metals or alloys having an appreciable magnetic permeability upto the operating temperature of interest. We use diamond shapes withuniform line widths of about 7 mils (0.18 mm) to define the peripheriesof the diamonds. The diamonds can have L/W ratios less than or equal to1.0 in our selvaged susceptor where we are interested in influencing theeddy currents to run transversely into the solid edge strips. If we usea cup coil of the '037 patent and a tailored susceptor, we want L/W tobe greater than one so that the longitudinal impedance is less theimpedance and the eddy currents rum longitudinally although the coildrives them transversely. Other shapes can be used for the openings tocreate a foil that has a uniform impedance or whatever desired ratio inthe longitudinal and transverse directions.

The ratio of length to width (L/W) for the selvaged susceptor affectsthe susceptor's heating and the quality of the weld. Having higherlongitudinal impedance influences the induced current to flowtransversely in the path of least resistance toward the selvaged edges300 (FIG. 5). Once in the edges, the conductivity is the highest and thecurrent density the lowest, so the eddies can turn easily.

We modify the edges of the selvaged susceptor (FIG. 5) to adjust thecurrent density. We seek to accommodate a higher current density at theedges so that the edges will produce a proportionately lower eddycurrent for a constant field strength. In this way, the coil will heatthe edges uniformly with the center. The selvaged susceptor counters thenonlinearities that naturally occur with cup core coils. It provides anarea outside the bondline when using the asymmetric coil so that theeddy currents can turn and proceed transversely back across the openmesh of the selvaged susceptor.

Our preferred selvaged susceptor has solid copper selvage strips 300,devoid of openings, to maximize the current density in the edge regionwhile the center has the characteristic diamond pattern of openings.Neither folding nor compressing in the edge region which we tried withour tailored susceptor produces a high enough current density to producethe uniform heating we need with our cup core coil to produce reliable,reproducible, quality thermoplastics welds. Using solid selvage edgestrips is better, especially at the beginning and end of a weld runwhere the dwell of the coil can introduce thermal discontinuities thatwe avoid when we are moving the coil slowly along the weld seam. Usingan asymmetric coil which has an "A" winding on one pole of the "C" coreand a "B" winding of opposite helical twist on the other pole, we canachieve relatively uniform, intense heating between the poles withrelatively insignificant heating outside the poles, at least in theregion training the moving coil. Only one coil winding is active at atime. The asymmetric coil allows us to heat uniformly under the coil tothe edges of susceptor on the ribs without remelting or overheating thewelded area under the abutting spar. The asymmetry provided by twowindings, only one being active at a time, allows us to travel in eitherdirection with start-up or finish without significant heating under thespar. Thermal discontinuities produce welds of differing characteristicswhich can, from the uncertainty of quality, cause designers to questionthe integrity of the structure. Using solid edge selvage strips, we haveminimized thermal discontinuities (especially at the start or finish ofthe weld) and produce better welds more consistently. The edge stripsare in the order of 1.0-15.0 ram, and usually are outside the bondline.That is, the open center portion is essentially the same width as thecap of the spar or rib. Welding does not occur under the edge strips andthe strips can be removed after welding is finished.

Our goal is to produce aircraft structure that eliminates fasteners.Welded structure will be far less expensive because welding eliminatesthe labor to drill holes accurately and to inspect the fasteners afterinstallation. We also will avoid other problems that fastenersintroduce, such as sealing around the fastener and the holes, mismatchof materials, and arcing from the fasteners. To replace the fasteners,however, requires confidence that the welds are uniform and consistent,because a failure at any weak point in the weld could lead tocatastrophic unzipping of the entire welded structure. One of the mostimportant problems is temperature uniformity along the bondline toachieve uniform and complete melt and cure of the resin.

As mentioned earlier, we embed the foil in the resin 160 (FIG. 5) tocreate the susceptor and to simplify the welding process. Making asusceptor (i.e. the foil/resin tape) eliminates the steps of applyingseparate layers of resin between the respective elements in acomposite-susceptor-composite assembly. It also ensures that there willalways be adequate resin proximate the susceptor and essentially uniformresin thickness across the welding bondline. Our typical tape is about 2inches wide with K3A Avimid resin (an aromatic polyimide), although wecan use PEEK, PEKK, PES, or any other thermoplastic. The resin must becompatible with the matrix resin in the composite and generally is thesame resin as the matrix resin when welding thermoplastic composites.For welding thermoset composites, the resin will likely be a comparablethermoplastic formulation of the matrix resin in the composites or acompatible resin.

With our tailored susceptor and the cup coil of '037, we have differentconsiderations. The power (P) is a function of the current (J) and theresistance (i.e. impedance) (R): P=(J²)(R). So, if the eddy currentdoubles, to maintain P constant, the impedance must decrease toone-fourth its initial value. To maintain the power constant, when usingthe cup coil, the impedance must be much lower at the edges than it isin the center of the susceptor.

We modify the edges of the tailored susceptor to adjust the currentdensity so that the current density can be higher and thereby produce aproportionately higher eddy current without producing a highertemperature. While the current is higher the impedance is lower on theedges (there is more metal to carry the current), and the net effect(i.e., (J²)(R) will be substantially uniform heating.

Now, the edge treatment would produce lower temperatures at the edgesthan in the center if the magnetic field strength were constant acrossthe susceptor. With our coil, however, the field strength is highest atthe edges. Therefore, the two elements (coil and susceptor) worktogether to yield a relatively uniform temperature in the bondline.

We have tried several ways to control the impedance to achieve moreuniform heating than conventional susceptors provide. First, we adjustthe aspect ratio of diamond-shape openings in the tailored/susceptor(i.e. the ratio of the length to the width of the openings; L/W) tocreate a longitudinal impedance lower than the transverse impedance.Second, we fold the susceptor near the edges to produce thin strips ofdouble thickness where the additional mass and surface area of thesusceptor in these edge strips reduces the current density, which is acomplementary measure of the impedance. Third, we compress or crimpopenings in regions near the edge to alter the aspect ratio and toincrease the ratio of the longitudinal conductivity relative to thetransverse conductivity.

In the center of the susceptor, the current that we induce with the coilhas many paths in which it can flow. Near the edge, however, the choicesdecrease, in essence, unless we create additional current pathsartificially. The coil is trying to induce a current of the largestmagnitude near the edges. Therefore, we introduce, in one embodiment ofthe present invention, a susceptor with nonlinear impedance tocounterbalance the current and to achieve relatively uniform heating.

The ratio of the length (L) to the width (W) of the openings is criticalto achieving uniform heating in a foil of uniform thickness havingopenings of only one size and shape and uniform line widths. With asusceptor having a uniform distribution of openings of aspect ratiogreater than one, crowding of the current along the edge of thesusceptor is reduced and the temperature is more uniform even though theabsolute impedance at the edges and in the center is equal. The higheraspect ratio provides an impedance for the susceptor which dominates thepower equation so the effect of eddy current changes is masked.

The longitudinal conductivity is higher than the transverse conductivityprincipally because the path length for the current to flowlongitudinally is more direct and consequently shorter than thatrequired for transverse flow.

The tailored susceptor may be folded over on itself near the edge toform a double thick region at the edge. Of course, double thicknesscould simply be manufactured into the susceptor. The tailored susceptorcould be slightly inwardly along its edges to form a region where theaspect ratio (L/W) is higher than in the center portion and the densityof metal (gm/cm³) is increased over the center portion. Both factorsreduce the current densities near the edges so heating at the edges isreduced. Again, the combined effect with the higher field strengthresults in a more uniform temperature in the bondline.

The edge techniques can be combined to achieve the desired tailoring.Instead of compressing the susceptor to form the edge region, we canform the susceptor with a grading in the openings (i.e. higher aspectratios toward the edge) such as square diamonds in the center andelongated diamonds in the edge region. The grading can be in distinctsteps or can be gradual across the width.

To form the structural susceptor, then, we take a conventional (tailoredor selvaged) susceptor 100 and loosely bond reinforcing fiber 104 andthermoplastic films 102 in alternating layers symmetrically on bothsides as shown in FIG. 2. The reinforcing fiber preferably is wovenfiberglass, because fiberglass has a higher coefficient of thermalexpansion than carbon fibers so that the fiberglass reinforcementprovides better relief of the residual tensile strain otherwise presentin the weld. The thermoplastic films are preferably the same resin asthat used to embed the metal foil and to fabricate the laminates. Sheetthicknesses for these films are usually about 0.001-0.002 in(0.025-0.050 mm). The woven fibers are preferably oriented perpendicularand parallel to the longitudinal axis of the weld.

The structural susceptor is generally loosely bonded together by heat orpressure or both, but could be of essentially unitary construction ifdesired. Being loosely bonded helps in gap filling as we will nextexplain. We use at least two layers of fiber and thermoplastic on eachside of the susceptor, but the absolute number is not critical. We havesuccessfully fabricated susceptors with 26 plies of 106 stylefiberglass. We have also prepared peelable susceptors by preplying andconsolidating single plies of 108 style fiberglass with K3A films (about0.015±0.005 in thick) followed by a low pressure, moderate temperatureheat tacking to adhere the plies to either side of the copper/resinsusceptor tape. We have tested four different styles of fiberglass andachieved similar results with each, so we do not believe that the typeor style of fiberglass is critical.

The fiber alleviates residual tensile strain in the weld, and suppressescracking if the fiber volume is at least about 30%. The thermoplasticensures a resin rich weld.

3. Gap Filling

To achieve a high quality induction weld, the parts being joined mustfirst come into intimate contact and then the interface must be healedby the intermolecular diffusion of polymer chains across the interface.Intimate contact will be achieved along the length of the weld when theparts being joined have no gap between them. Since typical manufacturingtolerances associated with pan fabrication and assembly can result ingaps as large as 0.120 inch, there needs to be a method for reducing thegap between the details being joined.

Using a multipass welding process, parts with a preweld gap of up to0.020 inch have been successfully welded. To achieve a preweld gap ofless than 0.020 inch it has been necessary to perform a detailed surfacemapping operation on both faying surfaces and a subsequent machiningoperation on one of the surfaces. Currently plies of carbon fiberreinforced composite have been added to the structure to besacrificially machined to reduce the gap. This machined surface nolonger provides a resin rich surface for the welding process resultingin a significant reduction in weld performance.

When parts with surface irregularities in their faying surfaces arebrought together with a susceptor between them, the first pass of thewelding head heats the susceptor to about the melting temperature of thethermoplastic faying surfaces of the parts. The resin encapsulating thesusceptor melts and resin in contact with the susceptor/resin pack alsomelts, and the pressure exerted on the wing skin in the vicinity of thework coil presses the faying surfaces closer together and extrudesexcess resin from the tops of the projecting surface irregularities.However, surface irregularities upstream and downstream of the zonebeing heated by the coil remain uneven and continue to interfere withperfect intimate contact by the full surface areas of the layingsurface, and the stiffness of the top part limits the vertical excursionthat the top part can make into contact with a large scale depression inthe underlying pan. Some of the projecting surface irregularities in theheated zone are melted and flattened in this first pass and the partsare now welded together with some percentage of the bond line fayingsurfaces fusion bonded together. Some small scale irregularities mayremain, preventing full intimate contact of the surfaces, and a largerpercentage of the large scale irregularities may still remain, alsopreventing some contact.

During the second and subsequent passes of the welding head, the resinin contact with the susceptor is again heated to the melting orsoftening temperature by the heated susceptor, and the pressure exertedby the pressure pads on the welding head presses the faying surfacesinto more intimate contact, extruding additional thermoplastic from thebondline. The projections above the plane of perfect flatness on theparts are reduced further, and the hollows are partially filled in bymelted or softened resin melted off the high points of the surfaceirregularities.

As mentioned earlier, the susceptor foil 140 is embedded inthermoplastic resin 160 to simplify the welding process. Making a tapeof the susceptor encapsulated in a thermoplastic which is the same orcompatible with the thermoplastic on the faying surfaces of the parts tobe welded together ruggedizes the otherwise fragile susceptor andensures an adequate quantity of thermoplastic around the susceptor. Italso improves the heat transfer characteristics of the susceptor to thefaying surfaces of the two thermoplastic parts.

The structural susceptor can fill the gap because it can be trimmed ortailored by peeling away portions 115 of the overlying thermoplastic andfiber as shown in FIG. 3. We measure the gap with verifilm or anothersuitable method and tailor the structural susceptor to complement thegap. As shown in FIG. 3, we cut peaks and valleys in the susceptor,differing the number of plies to match the gap. In doing so, weeliminate the need for machining the sacrificial plies. We can eliminatetheir added cost and weight and can speed the assembly. We also have aresin rich layer at the faying surfaces which assures a higher qualityweld. The completed weld 125 is depicted in FIG. 6.

While described with respect to a moving coil operation, the presentinvention is applicable to fixed coil welding operations that use anembedded susceptor. In such operations, particularly those usingBoeing's induction heating workcell as described in, among other, U.S.Pat. No. 5.530,227 by Matsen et al. entitled "A Method and Apparatus forConsolidating Organic Metric Composites Using Induction Heating" (whichwe incorporate by reference), the susceptor typically is a thin andnarrow, solid copper strip rather than a mesh, because the fixedsolenoid coil induces eddy currents to run longitudinally. Such awelding operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,422 by Matsen etal. entitled "Thermoplastic Welding of Organic Resin Composites Using aFixed Coil Induction Heater, which we also incorporate by reference.

While we have described preferred embodiments, those skilled in the artwill readily recognize alterations, variations, and modifications whichmight be made without departing from the inventive concept. Therefore,interpret the claims liberally with the support of the full range ofequivalents known to those of ordinary skill based upon thisdescription. The examples are given to illustrate the invention and arenot intended to limit it. Accordingly, limit the claims only asnecessary in view of the pertinent prior art.

We claim:
 1. A method for thermoplastic welding to join twofiber-reinforced composite laminates with a susceptor encased in athermoplastic resin, comprising the steps of:(a) positioning at leasttwo laminates to define a bondline; (b) positioning a susceptor alongthe bondline; (c) adding fiber reinforcement and additionalthermoplastic resin where necessary to fill gaps along the bondlinebetween the laminates and the susceptor; to fill gap, therebyeliminating resin deficient regions otherwise occurring; and (d) heatingthe susceptor to melt the resin and to form a thermoplastic weld betweenthe laminates.
 2. A product obtained by the process of claim
 1. 3. Amethod for filling gaps along a bondline between faying surfaces offiber-reinforced resin composite laminates prior to their joined with athermoplastic weld, the weld containing a susceptor having metal sheetencased in fiber-reinforced, thermoplastic resin, the method comprisingthe steps of:(a) adjusting the thickness, number of plies, or both ofthe fiber-reinforced, thermoplastic resin along the bondline to fillgaps between the laminates, and (b) welding the laminates by heating thesusceptor to melt the thermoplastic resin.
 4. A product obtained by theprocess of claim
 1. 5. A method for thermoplastic welding to join atleast two prefabricated resin composite laminates using a susceptoralong a bondline, the susceptor being capable of heating to atemperature at which a welding resin in the bondline melts, comprisingthe steps of:(a) positioning the laminates to define the bondline; (b)identifying the gap profile between the positioned laminates along thebondline; (c) tailoring the susceptor by peeling at least one fillerlayer associated with a metal sheet in the susceptor so that thesusceptor profile substantially complements the gap profile; (d)positioning the tailored susceptor along the bondline; (e) welding thelaminates together along the bondline by inducing eddy currents in themetal sheet of the susceptor to heat the bondline to at least themelting temperature,wherein the susceptor comprises a metal filmembedded in a thermoplastic resin and a plurality of additional fillerlayers sandwiching the metal film, each filler layer including athermoplastic resin film and a fiber reinforcement.
 6. A productobtained by the process of claim
 5. 7. The product of claim 6 being awingskin welded to a spar.
 8. The product of claim 7 wherein thewingskin and spar are reinforced with carbon fiber and wherein the fiberreinforcement in the filler layer is fiberglass.